CHURH STREET; Preacher’s Kid

“It’s a bright new day, people! I can’t wait to have the day end so I can find myself grooving to this evening’s conference. A whole host of musicians are ‘repping’ and I hope to see you there too. Now, how does it feel like to be a preacher’s kid? The phone lines are opened and we-are-waiting for your call” – DJ Rock said on the radio.

I’ve always wondered how it feels to be the child of a man/woman of God. The responsibilities everyone puts on your shoulder is huge. The kind of lifestyle expected of you is of high standard, morally and religiously. It is often said that most children of preacher’s are bad. Why? Highly assumed that the devil targets the offspring of the preacher to distract the faith of the preacher.

Well, could be.

Bee, as popularly called was a saint of her own. Among her parent’s three children, she stood out as the white-board with a promising future to take after her father, Rev Hughes. Decency and respect were her hallmarks. She clearly exhibited the acts of a preacher’s kid. She was god-sent into the lives of her parents.

To most young ladies in the church, she was a role model with her carefully-cultured fashion sense. Being the assistant teacher for the youth section of the church, she more than often obliged to live a worthy one so they could learn.

When she sings! Oh my goodness! Angels descend.

The power in her voice displayed the essence of the songs she sung to the congregation. People fell in line with the spirit of the worship songs and tuned their spirit to its purpose, God. The grace on her life was enviable and admirable. She sometimes played the bass-guitar. The day she embraced the opportunity to share the word at the adult section of the church, many were wowed by her in-depth knowledge of the word of God. She spoke just as she had continuously fed her mind and spirit with it every day.

Bee’s life outside the church was the same at home and in school. Her mates teased her with the “Virgin Mary” name tag. It never bothered her to be herself. In addition to her lifestyle, she was top of her class in her graduating year in college. She was the top-notch graduate from the Business School.

Her respect shot up!

The siblings of this damsel were hard nuts. Okay, not the last child but the eldest, Ken. It is hard to understand how the same womb that produced Bee, produced her brother, Ken. How he turned out to be a vagabond child is headache for Rev. Hughes. His father had prayed all the prayer he could, ‘drowned’ him in the thickest anointing oil, and any possible physical-mental solution but none prevailed.

Rev. Hughes still believed the righteous will surely prevail in this battle.

In his element, he’d walk from the back seat of the church to prompt his father at the pulpit that time was up for closing, when preaching hadn’t began. Some attributed it to the work of the devil, others said he smoked the seeds of a hard drug which affected his mental faculty.

The storms changed its course harder for Rev. Hughes and his wife when the unexpected happened.

Bee showed symptoms which needed medical attention after she had taken self-prescribed pills to cure herself. Her mother accompanied her to the hospital for check-up to be done. The results of the tests sank Mrs. Hughes’ spirit in deep waters.

Her daughter was pregnant. Yes, Bee was a month and two weeks pregnant.

Mrs. Hughes couldn’t utter any other words aside mentioning her daughter’s name repeatedly.

How was she going to break the news to her husband? How will the all-hailed model of class be seen in a society where having a child of out wedlock was looked down upon. The youth, her school mates, the church members, everybody was surely going to be heartbroken.

Oh, how people were going to chastise her with the usual “Pastor’s kids are bad” anthem.

For the first time, Rev. Hughes cried before his daughter. He couldn’t hold it together with the shock and disappointment. The reality of having to answer questions from people regarding his daughter’s pregnancy outweighed him. Coincidentally, the them for the coming Sunday’s sermon was “Chastity”

“I’m sorry Daddy. It was a mistake” were the only words Bee could speak long her tears. Just one mistake!

As the quote “Attitude is pregnancy; it can’t be hidden” they family couldn’t hide the secret anymore till Bee’s protruding stomach said it all. The shock; the “ow”, how, wow, why!

The same people who carried her on high esteem chastised her on high. The gossips behind doors, the indirect insults, the neglect, and the shame were outrageous. Bee lost her sense of belonging among some of the very same people she knew to be Christians. It almost altered her faith to stop the church but she kept her faith in Christ and not man. Some members didn’t turn her away.

Yes, she made a mistake, but that didn’t deter her from seeing herself more of a sinner than her chastisers. She held on to the faith no matter the persecutions and judgment. She didn’t shy from doing the work of God. She continued. Her Father kept himself together behind the pulpit. Her mother didn’t reject how own daughter but availed herself.

She’s human; she fell, she rose again to be a beacon of inspiration to many with her story. We all fall one way or the other in this journey but the key thing is to bounce back onto your feet, keeping the faith up.